A 3D rendering of the potential appearance of the updated NICU at the Victoria Hospital in Prince Albert. (Submitted Photo/Victoria Hospital Foundation)

By Susan McNeil

Victoria Hospital

Thirty-three new staff to be hired for new NICU

Mar 28, 2022 | 1:00 PM

Victoria Hospital has a newly built NICU and soon will have some new staff to help make it ready for babies.

The provincial budget announcement last week included a $2.2-million boost for the project which means 33 new staff with a variety of roles.

It was welcome news for Lyle Karasiuk, head of the Victoria Hospital Foundation which raised funds for the physical construction of the unit.

“Growing our hospitals capacity to care for fragile babies in a big brand-new space is exciting,” he said.

The new staff will be multidisciplinary, said SHA spokesperson Doug Dahl.

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They will include registered nurses, physicians and clinical and support staff in order the provide the enhance model of care.

The NICU will also grow from the four exiting beds to 11 cots.

Fundraising started for the upgraded care in 2019 and reached its goal in six months with one large donation of $800,000 from Dr. Lalita Malhotra in her husband’s name.

The existing NICU is in an old surgical closet. About 1,500 babies are delivered annually in the Victoria Hospital.

“We are eagerly awaiting the opening of the new Malhotra NICU for the north, a major fundraising project of the Victoria Hospital Foundation,” Karasiuk said.

In addition to fundraising over $2 million for the physical space, the foundation has also agreed to raise the money needed for new equipment.

Karasiuk said it is thanks to the support of the local community and generous donors that the project has been able to go ahead.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertNOW